Industries globally are grappling with the aftereffects of COVID and geopolitical tensions on their supply chain. These obstacles have forced suppliers and manufacturers to explore new markets and forge connections with previously overlooked regions. Metals of all kinds are highly valuable for their general and critical applications across medical, military, aerospace, and other cases. However, obtaining high-quality resources from reliable sources has become increasingly challenging as historic players have scaled back their distribution. Interlink Metals and Chemicals AG, a leading Swiss titanium distributor and trader, aims to alleviate material shortages and drag in production capacity with a new fully integrated…
Author: TJ Markle
Positioning its Pentagon-backed Louisiana plant for future supply, Ucore Rare Metals Inc. has signed a non-binding agreement with Critical Metals Corp. for heavy rare earth concentrate from the Tanbreez project in Southern Greenland, the first step toward a 10-year offtake arrangement that could deliver up to 10,000 metric tons of concentrate annually beginning in 2027. For more than a decade, Ucore has pursued a strategy to anchor a North American rare earth supply chain, shifting from early mine development at its Bokan rare earths project in Alaska toward the commercialization of RapidSX, a solvent extraction upgrade designed to separate rare…
Recovering just 1 percent of rare earth elements from these by-products could replace imports Many useful metals unearthed from U.S. mines are discarded. When mining operations dig for valuable metals, they often exhume ore containing other metals too. These by-product elements are usually treated as waste, but recovering even small fractions could offset the need to import them, researchers report August 21 in Science. For instance, recovering just 1 percent of rare earth elements from this material could replace imports. “We’re used to skimming cream off the top,” says Elizabeth Holley, a mining geologist from the Colorado School of Mines…
Deep-sea rocks packed with valuable metals may also be making oxygen in the deep, dark ocean—raising new questions about the cost of mining them. Scattered across the deep ocean floor are trillions of potato-sized black rocks packed with valuable metals such cobalt and copper. Mining companies want to harvest these nodules to get materials for electric vehicle batteries and other clean energy tech. But recent research suggests the rocks might be producing oxygen in the darkness of the deep sea—potentially supporting marine life in ways we’re just beginning to understand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jcmfjDtS1Q https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/deep-sea-nodules-may-produce-oxygen-raising-concerns-over-ocean-mining/
President Donald Trump was asked on Thursday about a report that the U.S. is preparing to offer Russian President Vladimir Putin economic incentives to encourage him to end the war in Ukraine—including opening up access to natural resources off Alaska’s coast. The Daily Telegraph reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is exploring the possibility in efforts to facilitate a ceasefire and lasting peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. Why It Matters Trump’s “America First” policy has seen him strike rare earth mineral deals with Ukraine and Kazakhstan. While the Telegraph report has not been verified and there are few details,…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Board of Directors at its quarterly meeting approved two new investments that will support economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa and strengthen supply chains of critical minerals vital for American national security. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. He was joined by DFC’s public and private sector board members. In advance of the board meeting, DFC also held a public hearing, where stakeholders had the opportunity to share their views on DFC’s work. DFC’s Board of Directors approved two strategic transactions in Sub-Saharan Africa that will…
West Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – July 9, 2025) – Millennial Potash Corp. is excited to announce that the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (“DFC”) has committed up to US $ 3,000,000 in project development funding (approx. CDN $ 4,080,000) in its Banio Potash Project in Gabon and on July 8 conducted a joint signing ceremony in Washington D.C. for this investment agreement with the President of Gabon, His Excellency Brice Oligui Nguema in attendance. The strategic investment, done under the DFC’s Project Development Program, will support a Feasibility Study (“FS”) on the Company’s Banio Potash Project in Gabon which…
Recovering just 1 percent of rare earth elements from these by-products could replace imports Many useful metals unearthed from U.S. mines are discarded. When mining operations dig for valuable metals, they often exhume ore containing other metals too. These by-product elements are usually treated as waste, but recovering even small fractions could offset the need to import them, researchers report August 21 in Science. For instance, recovering just 1 percent of rare earth elements from this material could replace imports. “We’re used to skimming cream off the top,” says Elizabeth Holley, a mining geologist from the Colorado School of Mines…
Chinese reference prices for rare earths have risen by around 40% this year. One of the triggers for this increase was the Pentagon’s investment in the US mining company MP Materials in July. Emerging rare earth producers such as Ucore Rare Metals (TSXV: UCU, OTCQX: UURAF, WKN: A2QJQ4) are also benefiting from the higher prices. The company is building its first RapidSX plant in Louisiana to produce rare earth oxides on a commercial scale. Ucore is particularly focused on so-called heavy rare earths, which are indispensable for the production of permanent magnets, among other things. Any industrial company that does…
Environmental crime in Costa Rica has escalated dramatically, with the illegal gold mining crisis in the Crucitas region now bearing all the hallmarks of organized crime, according to Environmental Prosecutor Luis Diego Hernández. Speaking on the growing threat, Hernández warned that criminal networks have seized control of gold mining operations not just in Crucitas, but also in other critical ecosystems like Corcovado National Park in the South Pacific. “The Public Prosecutor’s Office has identified figures like sponsors, resource providers, infrastructure coordinators—this mirrors the structure of drug trafficking organizations,” Hernández explained. “These are not isolated miners. These are tightly controlled operations…